First Anniversary Giveaway Day 5: My Too Short Hot Summer

This is the final day of the Just Hungry/Just Bento Anniversary Giveaway. It’s been a lot of fun going back to the past and sharing my memories with you, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading them!

And here’s the last chapter of my trips to the past, coming back to the present.

When I was 16, my father got a job offer in New York, and my parents decided to move back to the U.S. - this time on a more or less permanent basis. I didn’t really want to go, but my parents couldn’t be convinced to leave me behind to finish high school. Nevertheless, they did let me stay behind for one month more to finish up my club activities (I was in the art club) at my high school during summer vacation.

For this month, I stayed with my oba-chan (grandmother), my aunt and uncle and my two male cousins. They lived in a small town (now no longer that small) in Saitama prefecture, and my high school was in the suburbs of Tokyo, so the commute was pretty long, but I didn’t mind. For the last hot days of July and part of August, I took the train almost every day so that I could work on a big installation that our club was constructing.

Perhaps because my cousins were both rowdy boys, my aunt and grandmother loved having me around, and really spoiled me. My aunt, who did most of the cooking, always asked me if I wanted to eat something special. “I can go and get some beef from the department store if you want”, she’d say - the local grocery store didn’t sell any beef, just pork and chicken. She made bento lunches for me to bring to school too, even though she was busy working in the family workshop during the day (they made, and still make, shoji screens and shutters). My oba-chan, who was not very well (she suffered two strokes in her 50s) was still in charge of making umeboshi, and she would insist that my cousins and I have at least one a day, to combat the hot summer weather.

That last summer in Japan of my teenage years will always remain a happy place in my heart. (It was also the last time I saw my oba-chan, who had another stroke and passed away some years later. I’d been so rude to her when I was in my low teens and going through a rebellious phase, so I’m really glad that we had that wonderful summer together.) When I finally had to leave to go to New York, I cried in the plane. What was to follow was a difficult year for me; I hated my high school on Long Island, where I couldn’t seem to make any friends (everyone had known each other since elementary school, and they weren’t that openly welcoming to a shy new Asian girl). Partly because of that I started to eat to comfort myself, and in just a year I went from about 50 kilo (110 pounds) to more than 70 (150 pounds). I’ve had weight issues on and off ever since. My parents weren’t that happy with the move themselves either, and they split up a couple of years later.

It was only really recently, in the last 3-4 years or so, when I started to really take hold of my eating habits and my health, and re-discovering bentos has been a large part of that process. There is really something so comforting about knowing that, at lunchtime there is a small box of healthy food that waiting for you. That’s when I started thinking about starting up a bento blog. I already had Just Hungry, and at first I was going to make bentos part of that, but I decided that it was important enough of a subject to make into its own blog. So - that’s how Just Bento was born! My hope is that by reading what I have learned, and re-learned, about bento lunches, readers of Just Bento can take a little control of their health back too.

Please check the giveaway rules in the first post. Do try to remember to keep it to one comment per item/entry, thanks! Remember: You need to give me your email address (in the email entry area) where I can contact you if you win, your name (or nickname), and your location (country).

This is my favorite bento box, and I’ve used it in many of the featured bentos pictured on the site. It’s a stainless steel bento box by Kobo Aizawa, and featured here previously (that page also has buying info if you don’t win this drawing). It has a latch-on lid with a silicon seal, and a stainless steel divider plate inside. The capacity is 670ml, so it’s good for medium appetites. (The way I pack this box, the calorie count usually comes in around 500.)

This is a quality bento box, that has a nice heft but is still light enough to carry every day. The the lid latches snap into place in a very satisfying way, and it just feels well made. Since it’s stainless steel you can’t microwave it, but that’s a very small loss.

Important note: This item will be shipped to you directly from Japan. I’m not guaranteeing Christmas delivery for any of the giveaways, but you really shouldn’t count on it for this item. But hey, consider it to be a present for yourself! :)

This, and all the giveaways, are now closed. Thank you for participating! The winners will be announced later this week!

love your little recipes that can be mixed and matched to fit whatever ingredients i have at hand. i’ve been packing lunch to work ever since i found your blog… and i even went to kinokuniya to get japanese bento books, it’s been so fun deciphering all the katakana with my 1-semester-worth of japanese knowledge.. haha

and yes, can i be the lucky one with the bento box please???

p.s. i’ve learnt to eat cold rice, so a non-microwavable bento box works just fine ;)

I’m sorry to hear about your sad memories. I know what it’s like to transfer to a school where everyone except you grew up together there. My problems made me put on a lot of weight too, and I’m only now trying to lose it. It was while looking for ways to make lunch interesting while on a diet that I discovered bento.

I have so enjoyed your stories. As a military brat, who ended up in a civilian high school for the first time in 11th grade, I can identify with the not fitting in part. There are probably more of us that did not fit in than those that did.

I love this box! I’m just getting started in making bentos - I tried one at a sushi restaurant (for dinner! I didn’t realize they were typically eaten at lunch) and was hooked. A local folk school actually offered a bento class last weekend and I was thrilled to take it, but the instructor had to leave town unexpectedly. I just found your website today, trying to do some research on my own for recipes (I have a beautiful daikon that I’d like to pickle). Anyway, thanks for the great site! And for your generosity with these giveaways =]

name: scottie
country: canada
eeh, your summer with your obachan must’ve been memorable! i get that sometimes: the SUPER nostalgia wave crashing in. it makes me happy, yet sad at the same time! great blogs maki! hope i’ll see them for a loong time :). and that bento box is nice! simple, and not too childish!

I feel so sorry for your teenage self (hey you were my age :] ), moving has always been such an alien concept to me, as I’ve been stuck in Poland ever since I was born, so yeah. Eeeep, that’s some hardcore comfort eating, but perfectly understandable, I was doing the same about 3 years ago when the parental units were going through a divorce.

Thank you for this week, it’s somehow heartwarming to be given a glimpse of someone’s memories ^_^

I can’t believe how many people are thinking the same thing as me - this would be great for my husband, who’s been needing a ‘manly’ bento box to replace the old, broken plastic one I keep making him take to work!

I love these blogs; I have never tried a recipe from here that didn’t work out great. Thanks for all the hard work.

One of the things that was a bane for my mother was making hot foods for our lunches, and then having to let them cool because putting them into plastic containers would warp them or leach toxic plastics into our lunches. She eventually got some cheap stainless steel ones but they didn’t have a seal and unless it was ‘dry’ foods like fried-rice, we didn’t use them since they leaked all over our books and stuff which definitely wasn’t pleasant.

hey maki :D it’s chubby-chan, but this time i’m not entering the draw for the bento box giveaway. i only have a comment to make.

your life story is so touching..your aunt and your oba-chan were so caring and i’m glad, too, that you spent a nice summer with your oba-chan before she passed away. i hate that in some movies or dramas, important people in your life pass away after a quarrel or while you are on bad terms with them. it’s too sad T^T

thanks for sharing so many of your stories with us..i hope there’s heaps more to come :D